Yesterday we had the contract negotiation meeting, so the interview must have gone well enough. The search lead is "thrilled" with the agreement we came to, which means I should have asked for more - dammit! - but, at least things are moving forward. Now the Board has to vote on the contract, then after 2 weeks notice the congregation votes, then the wider church bureaucracy committee votes, then I'm hired permanently. For the job I'm already doing.
So...
Well at least I got the snowblower and lawn mower prepped for Winter. Changed the oil in both of them, started and ran the fuel out of the mower (which was a challenge since it hasn't been used in probably 4-5years!) and made sure the snowblower was all limbered up for when we'll need it in a month or two.
I honestly cannot fathom what that is like. I will still have to mow the yard at least 3 more times between now and March when it becomes a 2-3 weeks between mows. It slows but never stops here. We had the big snow event (big for southeast Texas) a couple of years back, but I shoveled the walk and driveway between the snows and didn’t have the issues that neighbors had because they didn’t. They were all sliding from the garage to the street while my driveway was clear of ice. I did freak the neighbors out a little, I was out in a t-shirt and shorts in 17°f temps and sweating while doing the job.
The mower hasn't been used because I had trouble getting it started one year and took it into the shop, who diagnosed a stuck choke and needed a tune-up. By the time I got it back a week or so later, some of the other relatives had hired a lawn service to take care of our lawn, so my freshly repaired mower went straight to the garage and sat there unused for 4-5yrs. This was the year I finally decided I was going to get it going again, since it was put away literally fresh out of being fixed and tuned up. Snow usually doesn't start until mid-to-late October, with our biggest snowfalls happening in early-to-mid February. In fact, the Winter before I bought the snowblower was the Winter where I spent literally 12hrs shoveling out our driveway after a particularly heavy snow. That's from 8pm until 6am, at which point I treated myself to a McDonald's breakfast platter and came back to finish shoveling out the rest of the driveway apron before I got the news at about 8a that work was going to be closed because of the weather. I bought the snowblower the second week of March, on sale $200 off the regular price because the snow season was over. "How much is it with the $200 off?" I asked. "About $800," came the reply. "Whatever, I'll take it," I said. "I ain't ever gonna have to do that again."
wanted that one but between back and front is just too tight for that model, although I might pick one up strictly for the alley/driveway.
But...this is the smallest one they make? Smallest two-stage, at least.
